Saturday night, I took my mom to see The Zak Brown Band. It’s ok if you’ve never heard of them. They are a country band and they are great.

I hadn’t been to a concert (other than the orchestra) for some time. Mom has a friend who works there. She asked what we were allowed to bring. The reply was something like blankets, low chairs, single bottle of factory sealed water, food in a clear Ziploc bag.

When I ordered the tickets, I paid extra for paved parking. Between my knee issues and the weather, I didn’t want to park in the grass lots. When the tickets came, the parking passes had “It is in your best interest to arrive by 5PM”. I thought that 5PM was awfully early for an 8PM show, but then I realized that the show started at 7PM.

I had to leave my docent class early to be able to be there close to 5PM. I made my way down to Akron, ate a quick sandwich and mom and I headed to Blossom.

When we arrived, we had no problem parking. As soon as we parked, I was wishing for my camera. The tailgating that was going on in the parking lot was AMAZING. There was food, beer, chairs, etc. everywhere.

We made our way toward the gate. Our bag was searched and we headed to the ticket collection area. We had our tickets scanned and entered the grounds.

There were lots of booth set up with various groups and radio stations. I took note that WGAR was going to have a Zak Brown Band takeover from the end of the concert until midnight.

We headed to the grass (the pavilion was sold out before we had decided to go to the concert). The next thing we knew, there was a gate at the top of the hill. We had to stand in line until they opened up the grass. It was so surprising. It’s 5:20PM and we are standing in line. We ended up there until just after 6PM. Remember that the concert starts at 7PM.

We found a good spot on the grass and waited for the show to start. Meanwhile, there are plenty of people selling beer ($10), water ($5) and other beverages. Lots of people around us were drinking multiple beers. Many people had also rented chairs for $10. They would receive $5 back from returning it at the end of the night.

At 7PM sharp, the first opening act started. They were ok, but not great enough where I remembered their name. I was amazed at all of the people smoking around us. I’m not sure if it was allowed or not, but I’m not sure how you’d police it. Next time, I’ll bring some allergy medicine.

After a few songs and a short break, the next act came on. They reminded us of Lyntrd Skynrd. They didn’t remind me of anything country. They played a few songs. Then, there was a long break before the main event.

The crew spent a lot of time putting up a screen and centering/focusing some video equipment. Soon enough, it displayed the city and date and a count down.

The band arrived and the show was AWESOME. I’m so glad that my mom and I were enjoying the show. It’s fun to watch her smile.

At some point during the show, a beer was flung toward us. We didn’t see where it came from, but the can hit my mom on her shoulder. It was full and sprayed all over a bunch of us. She was ok, but who throws a $10 beer. It was just one crazy part of the evening.

The other thing was that everyone had chairs (some rented) and blankets, but once The Zak Brown Band started, no one sat down the entire concert. The chairs and blankets became place holders that people weaved through during the evening as they traveled up and down the hill.

The show ended with Chicken Fried which is the song that put the band on the map. It was great.

We headed to our car and headed back to mom’s. We enjoyed the Zak Brown songs on the radio until exactly midnight. Syndicated programming took over in the middle of a song.

After dropping off mom, I made it back home just before 1AM. All in all, it was a successful night.